Audrey K. Brown Bilirubin Symposium and Club: Management of Hyperbilirubinemia in the Preterm Infant – Examining Morbidities, Research and Management

Chair(s)

• 

  Timothy Bahr, MS, MD (he/him/his)

  Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
  Pediatrics
  University of Utah/Intermountain Health
  Provo, Utah, United States
• 

  Cynthia Bearer, MD, PhD (she/her/hers)

  Professor, Division Chief. William & Lois Briggs Chair of Neonatology
  Pediatrics
  UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital
  Cleveland, Ohio, United States
• 

  Vinod Bhutani, MD (he/him/his)

  Professor of Pediatrics (Neonatology), Emeritus
  Stanford University School of Medicine
  Stanford, California, United States
• 

  David Stevenson, MD

  Harold K Faber Professor of Pediatrics
  Stanford University School of Medicine
  Stanford, California, United States
• 

  Jon Watchko, MD (he/him/his)

  Professor Emeritus
  University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
  Sewickley, Pennsylvania, United States
• 

  Ronald Wong, MD (he/him/his)

  Senior Research Scientist
  Pediatrics
  Stanford University School of Medicine
  Palo Alto, California, United States

Session Description:
The PAS Bilirubin Symposium and Club is a global academic forum to discuss the biology, epidemiology and clinical burden of bilirubin in the context of translational and clinical research, clinical practice, and public health policy.

Most of the medical literature on the prevention, management, and disease burden of hyperbilirubinemia focuses on the term or late preterm infant. Additionally, the well-established and widely-cited Guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics on the management of hyperbilirubinemia in the newborn infant are written for, and only to be applied to, infants born at ≥35 weeks’ gestation. The diagnosis of bilirubin-induced brain injury is difficult, especially in preterm infants. Additionally, treatment thresholds for hyperbilirubinemia in preterm infants lack evidence and vary widely. Despite this, active research is ongoing to better understand the neurotoxicity risk of hyperbilirubinemia and morbidities associated with treatments for hyperbilirubinemia in preterm infants.

During the 2026 Bilirubin Symposium, topic experts will review (1) bilirubin-induced brain injury in preterm infants and methods to detect this specific type of injury; (2) ongoing research on the effects of phototherapy on extremely low birthweight infants including the NICHD-sponsored cycled phototherapy clinical trial; and (3) expert recommendations and evidence for hyperbilirubinemia treatment thresholds in preterm infants. The 2026 Bilirubin Club will provide a forum for an open discussion of these topics and for global networking among clinicians and researchers interested in bilirubin.

Presentations:

• 12:30pm - 12:40pm ET

  Panel and Discussion
  

  Speaker: Timothy M. Bahr, MS, MD (he/him/his) – University of Utah/Intermountain Health
• 12:40pm - 12:45pm ET

  Welcome and Introduction
  

  Speaker: Daniele De Luca (he/him/his) – Paris Saclay University-APHP
• 12:45pm - 1:10pm ET

  Characteristics and identification of bilirubin-induced brain injury in preterm infants
  

  Speaker: Lindsay F. Holzapfel, MD, MS – McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston
• 1:10pm - 1:35pm ET

  Is aggressive phototherapy harmful to the extremely preterm infant?: the case for the NICHD cycled phototherapy trial
  

  Speaker: Jon E. Tyson, MD (he/him/his) – McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
• 1:35pm - 1:55pm ET

  Evidence and recommendations for hyperbilirubinemia treatment thresholds in preterm infants
  

  Speaker: Christian V. Hulzebos, MD, PhD (he/him/his) – Beatrix Children's Hospital, University Medical Center Groningen